Third Night (2)

The patrons of Koyaku's Grill and Drink had been treated to a variety of interesting sights during the past twenty minutes. Not only had two foreigners-both wildly different in appearance and outwards temperament-shown up but they had also begun to demolish a fair portion of the evening's stock, consuming enough for a party of ten and going strong with no signs of stopping.

The man they could see perhaps having such an appetite. Fairly tall with a wild and masculine appearance, possessing a toned and athletic form that was clearly a result of hard work and constant activity with a boisterous and confidant nature to match.

...It was the young woman that was sitting across from him that left jaws hanging and mouths gaping. Seeming about as heavy as a paperweight and half as durable she had nonetheless plowed through more menu offerings than the male had, a feat that simply didn't seem possible given her fairy-like features.

The manager that shift had yen symbols dancing across his eyes for a good thirty minutes.

"Well, Saber? You've eaten half a wild boar at this point and I think it's time you start spilling it. What's got your panties in a twist?"

Briefly fantasizing that it was Lancer's tongue she was placing over the hibachi Saber glanced upwards towards the other Servant, calmly sipping his fifth beer and patiently awaiting his own choice cutlets to be properly seared.

Why, exactly, had she thought he would be a good conversation partner over a matter such as this?

Sighing to herself she left her meat to grill and slowly asked, "Do you have regrets over the past? Action you undertook that, if given the opportunity, you would rectify?"

Raising an eyebrow Lancer glibly remarked, "Is that a real question, girlie?"

Rising to the bait before she could stop herself she snapped, "No, it's a fake question, boy."

Chuckling at her acidic tone the man took a large swig of his drink, eventually responding, "Well if it was as simple as just snapping my fingers and some bit of mishap or misfortune was fixed, then, yeah. Course I would do that. Gods only know I made my fair share of screwups and mistakes during the course of my life. What, is that your wish for the Grail? To fix something you did?"

Shifting in her seat the young woman slowly replied, "Something along those lines. It's just that recent events have made me wonder if...if that's what my wish truly is?"

Swirling his booze in the glass Lancer mused, "Now that you mention it you seemed weirdly familiar with some of the participants of this war. Rider was mentioning how the Homunculus Master called you out by name, that she knew you from the fourth war. What's up with that?"

Wincing before shifting uneasily in her seat Saber carefully explained, "I...am not a conventional Heroic Spirit. It might even be more accurate to say I have not yet properly become one, even thought I fulfill every requirement necessary. It's why I can remember events of the previous war and-"

"Why you can't astralize, right?"

"Erm...yes."

"Hah! Knew there was a reason for that. Anyway what about the other Master has you all screwed up?"

Blankly watching the meat slowly brown Arturia stated, "She was the daughter of my previous Master ten years ago. That Master and I had our...we had our fair share of disagreements. And it all culminated in his betrayal during the closing seconds of the war, forcing me to destroy the Grail with no warning whatsoever."

"Destroy it? The Hell would he do that for?"

Saber could only shake her head, quietly replying, "I don't know. Despite our differences I'm certain he desired the Grail more than anything...he never would have destroyed it without a good reason. But then that was the fourth war in a nutshell."

Idly flipping her slices over to evenly grill Saber distantly mused, "Iskandar, Diarmuid...Lancelot. Especially Lancelot. The King of Conquerors raised a number of doubts in my mind about how I lead my Knights, of how my decisions-both past and present-might have affected them and the resulting civil strife. Diarmuid...I respected a great deal. But he died cursing me and the world, a broken promise I had no say in leaving an ashen taste in my mouth. And Lancelot? Summoned as Berserker, mindlessly wishing to wipe me from existence, my refusal to grant him any measure of closure in life-whether through execution or exoneration-leaving him with no recourse but to seek it in death."

The chopsticks in her fingers suddenly snapped, Saber blinking at her momentary loss of control.

"My wish...many innocents died during the fourth war and now I find myself in a position where I must slay the daughter of a woman who I befriended during the previous battle, if I am to fulfill my ambition. An ambition I'm not even certain I want anymore. I just..."

Feeling more directionless and lost than ever before now that she had voiced her worries Saber quietly finished with, "I'm tired. And I just don't know what to do."

Warily glancing at Lancer, having no idea how he would react Saber was surprised to find he was merely contemplative, rather than judgmental or annoyed with her.

"Man. And I thought this war sucked. But forgetting that for a moment I'm still lacking one bit of important context here, Saber."

His sharp eyes locked onto hers, Arturia meekly sinking into her seat, wary at having exposed so many of her insecurities.

"What, exactly, is your wish?"

Absently poking at a piece of nearly perfect meat she blandly replied, "To erase my existence from Britain's history, to ensure that I never pull the sword from the stone and avert the sequence of events that lead to my kingdom's downfall."

She awaited the other Servant's mockery or harsh words, knowing that-to most Heroic Spirits-her wish was basically a slap in the face to everything they stood and had died for, to immortalize their accomplishments among Humanity...for better or for worse.

Instead she merely received a thoughtful hum from the man, his eyes narrowed as he lazily ate one of his grilled steaks.

"Well judging by how mopey you've been since the war went sideways you probably get that this wish of yours carries consequences beyond just your own legend. I'll skip the part where I say, 'hey, what about your knights' and jump to something a bit more apocalyptic in nature. What would erasing the legend of King Arthur mean for the world in general?"

Blinking in surprise at the avenue of thought she hadn't truly considered before Arturia hesitantly asked, "What, what do you mean?"

Staring at her as if he couldn't believe she was actually asking that Lancer responded, "Your legend is kinda a big thing, girlie. Kids, teens, adults...a lot of people know about you, are inspired by you. Hell, check this out."

Turning to the restaurant at large Lancer shouted, "Hey, who here has heard of King Arthur?!"

While a bit miffed at the sudden interruption about half the restaurant raised their hands, Lancer offering a wave and turning back to Saber with a smug grin, the young woman having hid her face behind her hair with a dusting of pink on her fair cheeks.

"See? And we're in freakin' Japan. Your name is known, Saber."

His eyes turned from amused to deadly serious.

"Forget Britain. Forget the Round Table and Camleot. What about the generations of people after your death who were inspired by King Arthur? What about those who wish to follow in your footsteps as a righteous defender of justice? About those who believe in the humble farmboy-girl, whatever-who became a king? About those who turn to their kids and use you as a role model for what a Human should be?"

Saber felt herself reel, as if she'd been punched directly across the face.

"To Hell with the people from your time. You were their ruler and your word is law and they're long dead. But the millions-billions-who came after? You're talking about casually uprooting a dream and figure they wish to be like, who makes kids want to take up a sword and be a Hero. You want my opinion? You have a responsibility to those who look up to the image of King Arthur you created to live up to it. Because the one thing King Arthur never did? He never gave up."

Saber could only look at her slowly charring food with a complete lack of expression.

She...had ever once thought of things like that. Nor had Iskandar, Gilgamesh or Irisviel.

The one person, ironically enough, who had thought of events like that had been Kiritsugu, citing her legend as having inspired unprecedented bloodshed as countless tried to emulate her.

But hearing it from Lancer?

It felt...different.

Better.

Finally daring to meet Lancer's eyes she was startled at the camaraderie she found within his intense gaze, no disgust or derision to be found within.

"I get it, Saber. Killing my boy due to my own paranoia and battle lust, losing my foster son, having to forget Fand and a shit ton of other crap that happened...I would change it, I really would...but if my legend inspires just one person to be a better version of themselves, to challenge the world and take it on instead of just rolling over...way I see it, that's what being a Hero is really all about. About giving the little guy something to emulate and then surpass. Your meat's fucked, by the way."

Listlessly staring at the charred mess that was her barbecue, mind awhirl with a thousand different thoughts Lancer sighed at Saber's listlessness, reaching out and taking the mildly ruined pieces for himself.

"A bit of existential crisis ain't no excuse to go ahead and ruin perfectly good food, girlie. Sheesh..."


The pair of Heroic Spirits aimlessly wandered the city, Saber still lost in her thoughts as Lancer simply walked where his feet would take him, not particularly concerned about being anywhere in a hurry or about the empty wallet now in his pocket.

Money would come to them or it wouldn't, no sense in worrying. Especially since the rate of attrition this war seemed to be pretty high, one battle resulting in one dead Servant.

Instead he glanced over to his walking companion, still lost in her own little world.

...The King of Knights was not what he had been expecting. Instead of some totally austere and noble warrior king there was instead some conflicted little lady who apparently had several layers of weirdness surrounding her like a bad smell, never mind not actually being a proper Heroic Spirit.

In a way it made her more likable, if massively frustrating at times. But it was the complicated events and people that always ended up being worth the effort. Look no further than 90% of his life for proof of that particular claim.

"Lancer?"

Snapping out of his ruminations as he noticed the tiny slip of a woman finally snap out of her funk he offered her his undivided attention.

"Yeah, what's up? Finally feel like walking among the living again?"

"Do you think my wish to erase my legend is the right one?"

Rolling his eyes the hound of Ireland dryly retorted, "I thought I made that pretty clear...whatever. No, I don't think it's right one bit. At all. Nada. Zilch. But you're not me, Saber. And you're not Iskandar, Lancelot or even that little Homunculus girl you know. That desire of yours is something only you can decide is worth pursuing."

The blonde was silent for almost a solid minute, eventually huffing out a breath and turning to face him with an expression of mock seriousness.

"So what was the point of me explaining myself to you if you are just going to say that only I can make this decision?"

Smirking with supreme satisfaction Lancer replied, "Because talking about it helped, right? Now you have more information to make a better decision with and aren't cooped up in some dreary house just making yourself more depressed, locked into a spiral of thoughts that would never go anywhere. And you got to eat some pretty damn good food, that's always a plus."

The duo locked gazes, neither breaking off from the contest of wills-

-and Saber felt her lips twitch upwards against her will.

"Yes, I suppose that's true."

"Course it is, now c'mon! We've got the rest of the night to ourselves and there's better things to spend it on than heavy thoughts!"

Wrapping an arm around the woman's slim shoulders and yanking her against his side prompted a huff of irritation from her, a dry remark of, "Is this any way to treat royalty, Lancer?"

"Bah, since when was I ever one to pay attention to stuff like social standing?"

A brief chuckle left Saber against her will, a companionable silence passing between them as she extricated herself from his grip.

"Thank you, Sétanta. For listening."

Blinking is surprise at Saber's words Lancer let loose a bark of laughter, musing, "Been a long time since anyone used that name. And seriously, Saber-"

"Arturia."

Cocking his head the other Servant shrugged, averting her gaze with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Arturia. My name. It's only fair that you know my true name, seeing as how I know yours..."

Lancer stared at his opposite, finding her more demure attitude...oddly endearing.

"You know, you should smile like that more often. Sure, you're a little short and lacking in the boob compartment but the genuine happiness more than makes up for it."

Scowling yet fiercely blushing at the same time Saber huffed, "Is that meant to be a compliment or an insult?"

"Why not both?"

"Well, I don't...I mean, I-"

Laughing uproariously as Saber stammered in confusion Lancer walked onwards, the smaller woman hurriedly following him as she tried to formulate a proper response.

Their summonings and initial hopes for the war may have been completely overturned and trampled upon...but for the moment, having a companion they could spend a night of freedom and friendship with was enough to make up for it.


While there's a lot to unpack regarding the actual mechanics of removing herself from history and averting Britain's destruction...I'm surprised nobody ever brought up what it would mean if King Arthur was suddenly erased from the cultural zeitgeist.

Mass pandemonium, raining cats and dogs while cheese rises from the oceans, probably.